Science

This week’s science picture

Dr Rafael Palacios giving us a little demo of his modelling.

This week’s science picture

Unmanned micro air vehicles (MAVs) are being used for a range of applications, from surveying dangerous areas to delivering packages. So far however, long range and high manoeuvrability are mutually exclusive. A collaboration of Imperial with Southampton, is developing a MAV prototype with bat-inspired wings. The wings use polymers situated in the membranes, stiffening and relaxing in response to the electrical current running through them. According to Dr Rafael Palacios, from the department of Aeronautics at Imperial, ‘‘The MAVs will be able to travel longer distances in tighter spaces with high controllability, just like a bat’’ making them and their production more economical. The aim is to get the bat-inspired technology to fly a distance of 30 or 40 miles. However, this requires a lot more work as they will need a battery or chemical device. In the future these MAVs could rival the 10 mile range of Amazon drones.

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How the Supreme Court ruling on gender is impacting queer people at Imperial

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How the Supreme Court ruling on gender is impacting queer people at Imperial

Last month, the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) ruled that for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 (EA 2010), the definition of a woman is based on biological sex.  The case brought before the court, For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, asked if transgender women should be included

By Oscar Mitcham and Isabella Duchovny
College opens Imperial Global India in Bengaluru

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College opens Imperial Global India in Bengaluru

Imperial College London has launched its fourth global hub in Bengaluru. The hub will host research programmes with Indian partners, focusing on some of “the world’s most pressing challenges in areas such as climate change and sustainability, food and water security, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR).” Launched at the Science

By Mohammad Majlisi